Marcus Vedrix
Marcus Vedrix was an Imperial Prefect who fought in the Skyrim Civil War and the Second Great War. Biography Early life Marcus was born in 4E 164, on the 23rd of First Seed, under the sign of the Lord in Anvil. In 4E 171, the Third Aldmeri Dominion invaded Cyrodiil. Vedrix's family evacuated Anvil, headed for Bruma. Marcus's father and brother soon after enlisted into the Imperial Legion without hesitation, serving in the Eigth Legion until their deaths in 4E 174 during the Sack of the Imperial City. This fueled Marcus's deep hatred of the Aldmeri Dominion. After the defeat at the Imperial City, Marcus's mother took her child and headed into Skyrim, reaching the city of Falkreath soon after. For the rest of his youth and adolescence, Marcus lived there. He supported his lone mother by working in the forestry business at the age of fourteen in 4E 178. Adolescence Marcus's uncle (on his mother's side) offered to take the family in, as he was a successful shopowner in Chorrol. In 4E 180, the Vedrix family returned to Cyrodiil. Marcus returned to studying, and took an interest in military tactics & strategy, coming to greatly respect Reman Cyrodiil, Tiber Septim, and Titus Mede II as generals. The teenager also read about heroes of mankind, which included the legendary Atmoran warrior Ysgramor and the powerful crusader Pelinial Whitestrake. Adulthood In 4E 183, Marcus began to assist his uncle in running his shop. He learned vital speech skills and was regarded as a respected member of the community, often helping the townsfolk with their issues. In 4E 184, he joined the Imperial Legion.﻿ Imperial Legion Career In 4E 184, Marcus, like his father, enlisted as a soldier in the Imperial Legion. He had previously been practicing with weaponry and keeping fit on the side for several years before entering the Legion. He effortlessly passed Legion training, being awarded high honors in his training centuria. Vedrix and his unit were stationed in Fort Ontus, where they are tasked with restoring the fort by an Imperial commander as part of a project to return old fortifications to working order (most likely as a result of their near-defeat in the Great War). Marcus had an easy deployment, and most of his comrades began to slack-off and not take their positions seriously. Marcus, however, did not fall into this pattern. He jogged regulary and put himself through a strict diet. His centurion, a veteran of the Great War, was impressed with Marcus's attitude, spending time with the young soldier. The officer even replaced the current prefect with Marcus. Marcus and his centurion began to enforce discipline, returning the centuria to a combat-ready state. In 4E 187, with growing discontent of the Empire in Eastern Skyrim, Marcus was sent to another centuria making its way towards the northern province. Marcus arrived in the Imperial City to meet his new shield brothers, who welcomed him with open arms. For three days, the centuria stayed in the Imperial City. During this time, Marcus met General Decianus, the hero of the Hammerfell Front during the Great War. Decianus complemented the legionnaire and told him to keep up the good work, patting him on the shoulder. Although the meeting was short, Marcus had met one of his heroes, and was determined to continue serving the Empire as Decianus did. Stormcloak Rebellion Deployment in Skyrim In 4E 187, Marcus and his centuria arrived in Skyrim, passing near Whiterun. The Legion soldiers were given welcoming applause, the Battle-Borns being chief among the viewers. Children admired the soldiers and their orderly column, smiling and waving at their protectors. Soon, the centuria that was met with love, was met with contempt from the Nords of Eastmarch. Reports about the situation in the east of the province were unclear; some claimed that the Nords had risen up against Imperial soldiers in open conflict, while others said that all the Nords did was "spit at (us) and glare in spite". What was clear was that Windhelm, the City of Kings, could not be accessed directly. Officers feared that any unit marching into the city would be in imminent danger. For three years, Vedrix was stationed in the chilly hold of Eastmarch, frequently patrolling near Windhelm. Although he never faced any rebels in battle (until the mid-190s), there were rumors about skirmishes in southern Eastmarch and in the Rift. Spiraling unrest In 4E 190, Marcus and three other soldiers under his command, while on patrol, searched a farmer's cart. The farmer was headed to Windhelm, to sell his food at the marketplace. In the search, Marcus's subordinate found several pieces of armor and swords. Marcus immediately question the farmer, who retained his innocence, saying the weapons and armor were for his "protection". The young prefect told the farmer to get down from the cart; the farmer refused, and Vedrix unsheathed his sword. The farmer then got down. Marcus's men seized the wagon and brought it back to their camp, along with the farmer. Vedrix reported to his centurion, named Valerian, who ordered an interrogation and investigation. Centurion Valerian had the prefect perform the questioning, which was long and brutal. After five hours of beating, the farmer finally admitted he was delivering the weapons to Ulfric Stormcloak's rebels. Prefect Vedrix and his contuberium were ordered to guard the main road to Windhelm, where they seized several more weapon shipments over the course of five days. Afterwards, there were no more "farmers" on the road. After a week of staying near the road, Marcus and his unit returned to the camp. where Centurion Valerian was attempting to establish communication with Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak. Valerian and Ulfric were writing to each other often, a big improvement from three years ago. Ulfric agreed to have Valerian meet with him. The centurion brought Vedrix and several others with him to Windhelm. The streets were deserted as the men walked into the city, greeted by the Jarl's steward, Jorleif. Jorleif led the party to the Palace of the Kings, where Jarl Ulfric awaited the men. Ulfric had the men sit at the large table, where food was laid out for them to eat. Marcus sat next to Ulfric and Valerian, where the two discussed the captured weapon shipments. The Jarl admitted to smuggling weapons into the city for the Windhelm guard. After two hours of conversation, Jarl Ulfric bid the legionnaires goodbye. As they returned to their camp, the group was ambushed by men armed with bow and arrows. Valerian seemed to be the target of the attack, and took the most arrows. The officer fell, and so did two others before the killers left. Marcus led the men back to the Imperial camp, where they buried the bodies of the fallen comrades until they could be sent back to Cyrodiil. Marcus believed Ulfric was behind the assassination of Valerian, as he stopped writing letters to the camp the day after the killing. Tribune Selenium Martial became the centurion of the unit. Valerian's death greatly affected the legionnaires. Selentium was a poor replacement for their old commander. Two years passed, with soldiers finding more and more evidence Ulfric was up to something. Selenium was hesistant to confront the Jarl about the issue. Many wanted to march on Windhelm and apprehend Ulfric then and there, due to his record at Markarth. Command finally made a decision in mid-4E 193: no action would be taken against the Jarl of Eastmarch until definite proof was found that he was connected to the various attacks on Imperial soldiers and garrisons in Skyrim. Marcus was angry, as he wanted to end the Jarl's career as soon as possible, but Ulfric was not bound to rush his rebellion. For a long three years, Vedrix and his contuberium aggressively patrolled the roads of Eastmarch, aching to avenge their dead centurion. In mid-4E 196, Ulfric Stormcloak killed High King Torygg in a Nordic-style duel to take the throne, but was denounced by General Tullius as an outlaw. The Skyrim Civil War had begun. Early years of civil war Ulfric fled to the City of Kings with the help of a gatekeeper in Solitude. Marcus's centuria was ordered to storm Windhelm and force Ulfric into surrender. Just as the centuria prepared to fullfill their duty, Stormcloak rebels attacked the centuria's camp, led by Galmar Stone-Fist. Three hours of battle in the snowy forest took place, and by the end, the rebels had annihilated Marcus's centuria. Vedrix and eleven others were the only survivors. They retreated from the hold, to Whiterun. Similar reports of attacks were reported in the holds of the Rift, the Pale, and even the remote Winterhold. The Battle-Borns helped the shattered remains of Centuria IX Tiber on their way to Solitude. When they arrived in the jewel of Skyrim, Legate Rikke assigned the soldiers to Centuria VII Gravis, which was led by a young officer named Silian Secunia.﻿ The centuria was at Fort Snowhawk, in Hjaalmarch. The soldiers arrived at Snowhawk alongside several other men; Ubriculius among them. Secunia had been in command of the centuria for little over a year, but had already established his reputation as an excellent peacetime commander. Stormcloaks in the Pale had made incursions into Hjaalmarch already, so Silian was ordered to repel the attacks on the border. For four months, VII Gravis battled six Stormcloak columns in the dead of winter. Through minor skirmishes and maneuvering, Secunia led his centuria to victory over several hundred Stormcloaks by the beginning of 4E 197. Such a decisive victory early on in the rebellion made the populace in the Imperial provinces believe the war would end soon; however, they were proved wrong when the Stormcloaks seized Falkreath hold and launched assaults on Legion positions in the Reach. General Tullius prioritzed the defense of the Reach, so Secunia's centuria was ordered to Markarth. When they attempted to go through Whiterun to get to the western hold, they were halted by guards and ordered to leave Whiterun's territory, as Balgruuf decided to be neutral. Secunia negotiated the centuria's passage through the center hold, but was warned not to expect treatment like that in the future. Finally, VII Gravis reached the westernmost hold in Skyrim; the Reach. The centuria was ordered to the border of Falkreath, where Stormcloak units were spotted moving into the Reach in large numbers. Gravis centuria guarded one of the most vital positions on the Reach-Falkreath border. The unit was put under huge pressure by Tullius to repel any rebel assault into the Reach. For many months, the centuria, with Secunia's keen leadership and Marcus's experience as a veteran, held the important passage from several large Stormcloak attacks; by the beginning of Mid Year, the Fourth Legion began to run the battered Stormcloaks out of northern Falkreath. VII Gravis particpated in the liberation of Falkreath, ultimately capturing the capital of the hold and terminating the Stormcloak commander located in the city. While waiting for a new assignment, Marcus met Prefect Hadrian Varro, a veteran of the Legion like himself. The two became friends in the short amount of time before VII Gravis set off for its new mission: defend Hjaalmarch. During the Falkreath Offensive, inexperienced auxilaries had been assigned to guard Hjaalmarch. The rebellion had taken advantage of this, slowly moving their main operations to the north. As Falkreath fell, so did Hjaalmarch. General Tullius, who was in the middle of planning an invasion of the Rift and about to open negotiations with the Jarl of Whiterun, immediately ordered most units stationed in Falkreath to Hjaalmarch; VII Gravis included. After several days, the bulk of the relief forces had arrived, and the situation was bad; Morthal had fallen, Fort Snowhawk was under-siege, and several other forts and outposts vital to Legion communcation lines had been captured by the Stormcloaks. In a matter of days, the Stormcloak advance had been completely halted, with Legion forces beginning to push the rebel lines back day after day. Prefect Vedrix took part in breaking the siege of Fort Snowhark alongside the rest of his centuria. Thus, VII Gravis avoided the bloody Battle of Morthal. Soon, the Stormcloaks had been defeated and thrown back into The Pale, where Legion forces pursued them; at Dawnstar, however, Legion forces were halted and eventually pushed back into Hjaalmarch by mid-4E 198. Political and religious views Marcus was a solid opponent of the Third Aldmeri Dominion, alongside most, if not all, of his brothers-in-arms. He was also against the White-Gold Concordat, but agreed the Empire would have lost the Great War had it not signed the treaty. Marcus was in secret a worshipper of Talos. Worship of the Ninth Divine was outlawed in the White-Gold Concordat and was punishable by death from Thalmor Justiciars. Despite this, he continued to worship Talos. Personality Marcus was full of hate for the Third Aldmeri Dominion, and showed no love or respect for them. He despised how they came to power through lying and deceit (claiming they sealed the Oblivion Gates and that they restored Elsweyr's moons), but admitted their carefully planned rise to power was well thought-out and smart. Marcus respected Hammerfell greatly, as they defeated the Aldmeri Dominion without the assistance of any other province in full-scale warfare. He admired Vhosline Dirnir, the great warrior who turned the tide against the Dominion in the Great War and the Altmer-Redguard War. Although Marcus initially disliked Skyrim's landscape and hated the cold weather, he came to love the rugged northern landscape and was, by the end of the Skyrim Civil War, accostomed to the cold even more so than some Nords. He respected the Nords of Skyrim as well. They were the first to establish a kingdom ruled entirely by man through military conquest, an achievement he admired greatly. Marcus never hazed his comrades, and kept his men in strict order: he didn't allow his subordinates to rape, steal, or kill surrendered enemies. His strict commands were disliked by many soldiers (during the sack of a city, they couldn't take riches or rape women), but they were moral and as such were praised by the commonfolk and royalty for showing that not all men were barbarians. Marcus looked down upon murderers, rapists, thieves, and any other kind of criminal. His flaming hatred of criminals led him to restrict his own men from commiting and participating in crimes during war-time. Lineage Marcus was speculated to be related to Reman Cyrodiil through his heir and a bastard child, but the document that stated this wasn't widely accept by scholars. Marcus himself denied the claim, inserting that it was more likely that he was related to a noble family. Marcus may also have been of Akaviri origin, which is more likely than being related to Reman Cyrod. Marcus didn't believe this either, but several scholars accepted the theory. Quotes Category:Imperial Category:Imperial Legionnaire